Bathtub spraymop



July 1, 1969 M. NOBLE BATHTUB SPRAYMOP Filed Oct. 9 1967 FIG. 7 FIG. 8

INVENTOR.

Molly L. Noble ATTORNEY FIG. 2

United States Patent 3,453,059 BATHTUB SPRAYMOP Molly L. Noble, 913 Iredell St., Durham, N.'C. 27705 Filed Oct. 9, 1967, Ser. No. 673,581 Int. Cl. A47l13/23;A46b 11/06 US. Cl. 401-289 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention relates broadly to mops and particularly to mops of the type which include means for spraying water through or adjacent the mop swab. More specifically the invention is directed to spraymops of the type having a rigid, tubular handle, a water supply tube connected to one end of the handle and a spray type mop head mounted on the other end of the handle and which are particularly suited to cleaning bathtubs.

Description 07 the prior art The prior art is replete with various types of spraymops having tubular handles and flexible hose means to connect the hose to faucets and means to spray water at the mop. However, the prior art structures are not suited specifically to the task of cleaning bathtubs and such fact is evident by the fact that spraymops have consistently been designed and sold for cleaning automobiles, dishes and the like but not for cleaning bathtubs, which presents a unique cleaning problem. Furthermore, the assembly and disassembly of the various prior art spraymops for manufacture or maintenance purposes generally require that parts be bolted or screwed together. The mops which require replacement are frequently easily pulled out of position when being used for cleaning, and when worn, are sometimes difiicult to replace because of rusty or corroded fasteners and the like.

Summary of the invention A spraymop according to the invention uses a bell shaped head made of a resilient material. The head is open at the bottom and has a small passageway at the top. A circular shaped and replaceable cloth or fiber mop is effectively snapped into place during assembly by having the body of the mop caught and squeezed between the flexible, interior wall of the head and the periphery of a circular spray disc which also mounts in the open, bottom end of the head. A rigid, tubular handle terminates in the head at one end and provides both a handle and a means for supplying water to the head. The handle and disc are connected and the handle extends through and is tightly gripped in the passageway in the top of the head which keeps the Whole assembly together but nevertheless allows for quick disassembly when necessary to replace the mop or clean out the head. Other advantages arise peculiar to cleaning bathtubs by reason of the handle being substantially long and extending perpendicularly from the head.

An object of the invention is to provide a spraymop particularly suited to cleaning bathtubs.

Another object is to provide a spraymop which can be both assembled and disassembled without having to employ any type of auxiliary tool.

Another object is to provide a spraymop whose principal components can be molded of materials not subject to the usual corrosion and rust problems of conventional spraymop components.

The foregoing and other objects will appear from the drawings and description to follow:

Description of the drawing FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a spraymop according to the invention and shown connected to a faucet.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, partial sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary section view of the bell shaped head.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a circular, replaceable mop suited to the invention.

FIGURE 5 is a section view taken along line 55 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the spray disc.

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of a retainer block.

FIGURE 8 is a section view taken on line 88 of FIGURE 7.

Description of the preferred embodiment A bathtub spraymop according to the invention comprises a bell shaped head 10, a hollow handle 11 and a flexible connector pipe 12. The invention primarily resides in the head and handle construction. The pipe 12 includes a conventional flexible connector 13 which adapts itself to various sizes of faucets such as the bathtub faucet represented at 14. Pipe 12 may be of rubber, plastic or other suitable material and should be of suflicient length to allow the user to reach all portions of the bathtub, a four foot length being generally suitable. A coupling 15 is used to connect the handle 11 and pipe 12.

Handle 11 serves both as a handle and a water inlet. For the handle purpose, handle 11 is preferably about four and one-half feet in length, substantially rigid, light in weight and mounted so that the central axis of handle 11 extends substantially perpendicularly with relation to the working plane XX of the head 10. A hollow, plastic tube meets these conditions ideally and also allows the handle to serve its other purpose of being a conduit for flow of water from the faucet 14 to the head 10. The diameter of handle 11 is chosen to be in the order of one inch both to provide a comfortable working grip when in use and also such that the passageway or opening 16 at the top of the head 10 will snugly and tightly grip handle 11.

As can be seen from FIGURE 2, one end of handle 11 terminates within the head 10 and includes a plurality of holes 17 in the upper part of the terminal end of the handle and four slots 18. Holes 17 and slots 18 of course allow the water to enter the interior of head 10 and holes in particular tend to spray the water outwardly and evenly over a thin, plastic circular spray disc having spray holes 21. Slots 18 serve some value in diffusing the water and also assist in allowing small particles of rust, dirt and the like to escape into the void above disc 20 where they may be easily removed as later described. To effect the purpose of holes 17 and slots 18 the holes are made approximately one-eighth inch in diameter and slots 18 are made rectangular as shown and about one-eighth inch in width and one-quarter inch in length though it should be understood that the specific arrangement and size of such apertures may vary widely within the scope of the invention. To complete the description of the handle 11, it may be noted that the end of the handle is closed by a retainer block having a groove 26 which corresponds to the size of handle 11 and receives and is preferably cemented to the end of handle 11. As will be appeciated from later description, block 25 serves both the purpose of closing the terminal end of handle 11 as well as serving as a stop and means of maintaining the head 10 assembled.

The mop 30 is intended to be an easily removable and replaceable element and generally is circular or like an open ended cylinder in shape. The swab or shag portion 31 is preferably formed of fibrous strands of cotton, artificial fibers or the like and should preferably be substantially long, in the order of four and one-half inches, to effect proper cleaning action of the bathtub. The strands of the swab 31 are secured into a suitable binding 32 according to forms of mop structures well known in the art. Binding 32 preferably includes a Wire core 33 which assists in maintaining the circular shape of the mop and facilitating mounting of the mop during replacement. Mop diameter M is preferably about ten inches.

One of the important features of the invention is the ease with which the spraymop is assembled during manufacture and disassembled for mop replacement or cleaning out of water rust particles and the like. In this regard, head 10 includes a bell shaped housing made of a suitable semi-rigid, resilient material such as a suitable rubber or plastic. In particular, such material should be sufficient- 1y stiff and resilient to afford a tight gripping action around the handle 11 in the previously mentioned passage 16. While not shown, this particular gripping action, may if desired be enhanced by knurling either the interior surface of passage 16 or the exterior surface of handle 11 where the passage and handle surfaces come into contact. In addition to the gripping action of housing 40 on handle 11 at the passage 16, the housing 40 and spray disc 20 are also designed so as to receive and grip the mop binding 32 between the interior lower wall surface of housing 40 and the peripheral surface of disc 20. That is, the resilient material for housing 40, the lower inside diameter D of the housing 40, the diameter Y of disc 20 and the diameter M of the mop 30 are all selected and chosen such that mop 30 may be mounted within the lower interior wall surface of housing 40 and tightly gripped or pressed between such surface and the peripheral surface of disc 20. In describing the material of which housing 40 is formed it will be appreciated that there exists a wide choice of materials in the rubber and plastic fields which Will exhibit the required semi-rigid and resilient character required for the described gripping action around the handle 11 and mop 30 such that once installed neither is easily dislodged from their respective positions. For example, the stiff, resilient rubber frequently used for manufacture of the well known plumbing tool, the plumbers friend, is deemed a suitable material.

To 'insure an even more positive gripping effect 'on mop 30 it has been found desirable to mold housing 40 such that it provides a pair of internal, vertically spaced and inwardly extending ribs 50, 51 between which the binding 32 and disc 20 are placed and held in place by the gripping action of the housing. For purposes of initial assembly, disc 20 is mounted on the terminal, perforate end of handle 11, with handle 11 extending through hole 22 in disc 20, after which block 25 is cemented in position. The inlet end of handle is then forced through the passage 16 until disc 20 is positioned near ribs 50 and 51. Binding 32 is next worked into the wall space between ribs 50 and 51 and while handle 11 is forced into its final position, disc 20 is worked into the position shown in FIGURE 2 where it acts to maintain the mop 30 in position. In a final assembled position of all the described elements, it will be seen that block 25 rests against disc 20 and provides, in effect, a positive stop for the terminal end of handle 11 and adds both the gripping action of housing 40 on the handle in passage 16 and the gripping action of housing 40 on the mop 30 and disc 20 to insure that the assembly will not become disassembled except when intended to be forced apart. Further, it can be seen that when it is necessary to either replace the mop 30 or to clean out rust, dirt particles or the like from the head 10 the disc 20 and mop 30 are simply snapped out of operating position by flexing the lower portion of housing 40 sufficient to allow block 25 and the terminal end of handle 11 to be moved downwardly and the disc 20 and mop 30 ejected from the head. Of equal importance is the fact that all parts may be made of rust proof materials and no bolts, levers and the like are required to maintain the assembly.

It is of course to be understood that even though a specific embodiment has been described the same is susceptible to change within the skill of the art while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined in the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A spraymop comprising, in combination:

(a) a flexible tube of a first selected length having at one end a detachable faucet coupling suited to various size faucets and a handle coupling at the opposite end;

(b) a handle member of a second selected length comprising a substantially rigid tube coupled at one end to said flexible tube handle coupling and over a preselected portion of an opposite terminal end having a plurality of spray apertures in the wall thereof and having means for closing said terminal end;

(0) a substantially thin perforate spray disc mounted on the terminal end of said handle member and arranged to spray water received from said apertures;

(d) a mop having a narrow width circular binder and mopping strands depending therefrom; and

(e) a bell shaped housing having an opening at a narrow tubular shaped end adapted to slidably receive said handle terminal end in a substantially tight operably engaging relation and with said apertures located within said housing at an opposite wide end being adapted to mount said mop binder and disc with the binder being so arranged and the respective diameters of the disc and wide opening and the resiliency of said housing being such that the whole of said binder is squeezed and operably held between the periphery of said disc and the interior wall surface of said housing.

2. A spraymop comprising, in combination:

(a) a flexible tube of a first selected length having at one end a detachable faucet coupling suited to varion:i size faucets and a handle coupling at the opposite en (b) a handle member of a second selected length comprising a substantially rigid tube coupled at one end to said flexible tube handle coupling and over a preselected portion of an opposite terminal end having a plurality of spray apertures in the Wall thereof and including means for closing said terminal end;

(c) a substantially thin perforate spray disc mounted on the terminal end of said handle member and arranged to spray water received from said apertures;

(d) a mop having a circular binder and mopping strands depending therefrom; and

5 6 (e) a bell shaped housing having at one end a narrow terminal end of said handle and including a retainer opening and at the opposite end a wide opening and block, said block being secured to the end of and being having a pair of spaced ribs depending inwardly from effective to close said terminal end and provide a stop to the interior wall surface thereof adjacent said Wide limit the travel of said disc on said terminal end. opening, said narrow opening being adapted to slid- 5 ably receive said handle terminal end in a substaneferences Cited tially tight operably engaging relation and with said UNITED STATES PATENTS apertures located within said housing and said Wide opening and said ribs being adapted to receive and 1193761 8/1916 Casler 401 288 1,333,741 3/1920 Thomas 401-290 retain sald binder and the perlpheral area of said 10 1,630,995 5/1927 Wlthycombe 401289 d1sc wlth the blnder being so arranged and the re- 2,484,488 10/1949 Corbett 401-289 spectlve diameters of the disc and wide opening and 2 528 599 11/1950 L th 401 291 the resiliency of said housing being such that said 2673999 4/1954 E er 401-289 binder is squeezed and operably held between the ey periphery of said disc and the interior wall surface 15 LAWRENCE CHARLES Primary Exmniner of said housing.

3. A spraymop as claimed in claim 2 wherein said disc US, Cl, X R includes a center opening adapted to slidably receive the 401-290, 291 

